Ian is rejoined by Tania Agnihotri to make a vain attempt to do justice to one of Wodehouse's greatest masterpieces, The Inimitable Jeeves (simply Jeeves in the USA) from 1923. Like Indiscretions of Archie it's a collection of short stories disguised as a novel. This is a two part episode. The first part covers the first ten chapters, or the first five stories: "Jeeves in the Springtime", "Aunt Agatha Takes the Count", "Scoring Off Jeeves", "Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch" and "Jeeves and the Chump Cyril".
There will be plot spoilers.
Next month: Leave it to Psmith with Ujjwal Deb
You can e-mail me at wodehousekeeping@gmail.com.
Reference works consulted
N. T. Murphy: A Wodehouse Handbook
Sophie Ratcliffe, ed: P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in Letters
Robert McCrum, Wodehouse: A Life
Richard Usborne, Wodehouse at Work to the End
Daniel Garrison and Neil Midkiff: Who's Who in Wodehouse, third edition
Lee Davis, Bolton and Wodehouse and Kern
Barry Day, The Complete Lyrics of P. G. Wodehouse
Madame Eulalie's Rare Plums website (specific page of annotations for this book, mostly by Mark Hodson)
Wikipedia
Other Wodehouse works mentioned
Something Fresh
My Man Jeeves
Thank You Jeeves
The Code of the Woosters
Right Ho, Jeeves
Indiscretions of Archie
The Clicking of Cuthbert
Ukridge
The Swoop
Jill the Reckless
The Golden Moth (musical, with Fred Thompson and Ivor Novello)
"Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend"
"Extricating Young Gussie"
The Adventures of Sally
"Jeeves and the Dog McIntosh"
Bring On the Girls (with Guy Bolton)
Oh My Dear (musical, with Guy Bolton and Jerome Kern)
Also mentioned
Miguel de Cervantes, The Siege of Numantia and Don Quixote
World of Wooster, TV series
Jeeves and Wooster, TV series
Alexander Pope
Nicolai Machiavelli
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
George Gordon, Lord Byron
ABC tea houses
"The Soul's Awakening", painting by James Sant
Ruby M. Ayres
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the "Sherlock Holmes" stories
Helen Wodehouse
Buck's Club
Fred Thompson
Gelert
Dr. Henry McBrian
Father Ted, TV series
Lord Roberts
Harrods
Harvey Nichols
The Bullingdon Club
Evelyn Waugh, Decline and Fall
Ian Carmichael
Dennis Price
Derek Nimmo
Just A Minute, radio series
Timothy Carlton
Benedict Cumberbatch
Tom and Jerry
The Lamb's Club
Guy Bolton
Abe Erlanger
The Shuman Brothers
Gilbert and Sullivan, Ruddigore
Recommended playlist
"Blow the Man Down" (Trad.)
Ewan MacColl, "The Manchester Rambler"
Greenbank and Jones, "Private Tommy Atkins"
Wodehouse and Kern, "We're Crooks"
Francis Lai, "La Marseillaise"
André Popp, "La valse à mille temps"
Beach Boys, "That's Not Me"
The Cure, "The Love Cats"
Mott the Hoople, "All the Young Dudes"
Wodehouse and Kern, "Ask Dad"
Ian Carmichael, "What Would I Do Without You, Jeeves?"
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